2015-16 SEASON PREVIEW: Fresh music, from Britten to Bowie

Posted on September 25, 2015 by maestrobeats

With Seattle’s ever-growing and ever-diversifying population, it’s easy to see why our city has become a top destination for up-and-coming composers, young musical talent, and adventurous concert formats. The 2015-16 season is so packed with new music concerts that, on most weekends, you’d need both hands (and maybe a few toes) to count them. From revitalized Britten to badass multimedia concerts to the classiest Bowie you’ve ever heard, there’s a little something for everyone. Read on for our top picks of the season.

The Town Music series at Town Hall Seattle, curated by our own Artistic Advisor Joshua Roman, is a bastion for cutting-edge music. The season kicks off with a young Russian violinist’s interpretations of Bach’s beautiful, complicated Sonatas and Partitas. And the rest of the season is anything but staid: it includes the premiere of a work composed over two continents, a dynamic performance of Britten’s second string quartet, and a new piece by Roman himself, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry by Tracy K. Smith and the up-and-coming soprano Jessica Rivera.

Another go-to destination for edgy music with global influences is the UW World Series, an arts season at Meany Hall featuring big names and even bigger ideas. This season is packed with exciting concerts that feature mainstays on the Second Inversion stream. In October, the ETHEL quartet teams up with Native American flutist Robert Mirabal for a concert focused on water’s essential role in all our lives. If drums and mallets are your thing, you must check out So Percussion’s set of modern classics by Reich, Cage, and more. For those who prefer concerts that combine edgy work with timeless pieces, go see the young, bearded Danish String Quartet (they take on music by Beethoven, Schnittke, and a composer from their homeland, Per Nørgaard), pianist Jeremy Denk (he’ll work in some Hindemith and Nancarrow between the Bach and Byrd), or the Daedalus String Quartet (a Huck Hodge world premiere is sandwiched between Beethoven chamber works). If you can’t make it to some of these much-anticipated concerts, don’t worry: we’ll have your back with a live broadcasts or a video from each one.

The UW World Series isn’t the only destination for new music on the University of Washington campus. The School of Music itself has an impressive lineup of concerts. On Halloween weekend, we’re excited to hear the Chicago-based Ensemble Dal Niente perform the works of Seattlites Huck Hodge, Joël-François Durand, and Marcin Pączkowski, among others. In late April, the Carnegie Hall resident ensemble Decoda caps off its weeklong UW residency with a Meany Hall concert of new and old music. And finally, some UW students pay homage to Harry Partch, who created new instruments along with new music, with performances of some of his work.

The UW isn’t the only higher education arts game in town, of course. Cornish College of the Arts is a wealth of compositional talent and its concert season, Cornish Presents, attracts world-class acts every year. Cornish teacher Wayne Horvitz starts off the new-music feast with his piece “Some Places are Forever Afternoon/11 Places for Richard Hugo,” performed with chamber groups Sweeter Than The Day and the Gravitas Quartet. A few days later, flutist Camilla Hoitenga teams up with composer and sound designer Jean-Baptiste Barrière for an electronic concert with video. In December, Paul D. Miller, better known as DJ Spooky, uses interviews from survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs to create a moving original composition. And for an ultimate exploration of music from both sides of the Pacific, stop by PONCHO Hall in November, when a famous gamelan ensemble joins four Seattle string players for a performance of new, local music.

Full-time locavores may not be satisfied until everything about the concert, from composer to performer to creator, is Northwest-based. If you want all local, all the time, your concert season destination should be the Universal Language Project. Founded by trumpeter and composer Brian Chin, the project draws on local talent to present a commissioned premiere in every concert. This season, we’ll hear music inspired by local landscapes written by Karen P. Thomas, Brian Cobb, and Tim Carey; music for strings performed by Seattle-based Scrape Ensemble; and an interactive concert with stunning visuals by Scott Kolbo.

And if that’s not enough to whet your new music appetite, the Seattle Modern Orchestra‘s upcoming season has even more new music. Each of its three main concerts features a premiere of some sort, from Orlando Jacinto Garcia’s From Darkness to Luminosity to an as-yet-unnamed work by Ewa Trębacz to the U.S. premiere of Anthony Cheung’s 2011 work Discrete Infinity.

In the last few years, Benaroya Hall has become an internationally recognized center for cutting-edge new music, from the avant garde to the crossover. If you’re into the former, you probably already know about the Seattle Symphony’s famed [untitled] series, which takes place in the Benaroya lobby fashionably late at night. This [untitled] season proves it means business with a season kickoff made up entirely of world premieres, then goes on to focus on New York City’s avant garde scene and an Arctic-themed piece by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams. If the latter is more your taste, check out the undefinable Sonic Evolution series, which this season focuses on the way different artists influence each other across genres and the phenomenon of indie music and film.

Finally, if you’re looking to get some culture but indulge in musical guilty pleasures at the same time, your go-to season should be the Seattle Rock Orchestra‘s. The ensemble that famously covers popular music on orchestral instruments has put together a killer 2015-16 series, which includes a David Bowie showcase, a collection of Mowtown music, and an evening devoted to Neil Diamond. A quintet from SRO also closes out Classical KING FM’s inaugural concert series with a very exciting Eastside concert featuring covers of Beck, Bjork, Radiohead, and more.

These are only a few highlights from an expansive, diverse, and exciting upcoming concert season. For a full listing of shows around the Northwest that’ll make you rethink classical, check our full event calendar.

CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: June 11-13

Posted on June 9, 2015 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Molloy

This week’s concert calendar spans the musical gamut from viola da gamba to Morton Feldman!

Morton Feldman’s “For John Cage”

In true New York fashion, composer Morton Feldman first met John Cage at a New York Philharmonic performance of Anton Webern’s Symphony, Op. 21. Disturbed by the audience’s disrespectful reaction to Webern’s work, the two had each individually stepped out into the lobby, where they began talking.

Both composers went on to become pioneers of indeterminate music—and perhaps more importantly, close friends. The two influenced each other over the course of their careers, and in 1997 Feldman wrote “For John Cage,” a 75-minute piece for violin and piano.

This week the University of Washington’s contemporary music ensemble, Inverted Space, is concluding its Long Piece Fest with a performance of this epic (and lengthy) work. Violinist Luke Fitzpatrick and pianist Brooks Tran will breathe life into this unique piece, which is meant to be performed at a barely audible volume. The piece combines Feldman’s expansive harmonies with Cage’s interest in silence and stasis, thus delicately exploring poetic dissonance in a state of prolonged stillness.

The performance is this Thursday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.

Joshua Roman Performs Gregg Kallor’s Chamber Music

Cellist Joshua Roman is well-known in the Seattle classical music community—after all, he became the youngest principal player in Seattle Symphony history at just 22 years old. But his reputation as a gifted and innovative musician expands far beyond just his Seattle achievements. He has performed as a soloist around the world, and this week we have unique opportunity to hear him perform in one of the major classical music centers of America: New York City.

Roman will be performing a dazzlingly lyrical piece titled “Undercurrent” by composer and pianist Gregg Kallor, the inaugural composer-in-residence at SubCulture in NYC. The performance also features world premieres of two new pieces written by Kallor, performed by violinist Miranda Cuckson, mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala, and baritone Matthew Worth.

Kallor’s works blend classical and jazz traditions with a distinctly New York flavor. But since it’s a long flight to NYC, we thought we’d bring the music to you: Second Inversion is going to record the live performance and broadcast it later on our website for your listening pleasure.

The performance is this Thursday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. at SubCulture in New York. We’ll keep you updated on the details for our Second Inversion broadcast!

Colleen and Hanna Benn

Violas da gamba may have been popular instruments during the Baroque period, but for the past several centuries the violin family has dominated the classical music scene—which is why one French musician is giving the age-old viola da gamba a new-age makeover.

Colleen is the alias of Cécile Schott, a French musician who reimagines the possibilities of acoustic instruments by taking them out of their usual contexts and pushing them into new musical territory. Over the course of her five albums, she has created a wide-ranging repertoire of compositions spanning from meditative and mysterious to playful and percussive. This weekend, she’s coming to Seattle to present a performance which merges old and new music traditions: viola da gamba with live electronic processing and singing.

Seattle composer and vocalist Hanna Benn will open the show with a rare solo set.

The performance is this Saturday, June 13 at 8 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. UPDATE: This concert is sold out! Please refer to Colleen‘s website and Hanna‘s SoundCloud for future performance info.

LIVE CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: May 27-31

Posted on May 27, 2015 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Molloy

This week’s imaginative concert calendar has everything from opera to oboe trios to Edgar Allan Poe!

Inverted Space Presents “Don Perlimplín” and Maderna-Fest

Italy has long been a center for innovations in vocal music—the Italians created opera in the late 16^th century and, to this day, they still maintain a rich and dynamic vocal music tradition. This weekend, the University of Washington’s Inverted Space Ensemble is celebrating the musical contributions of one contemporary Italian composer in particular: Bruno Maderna.

An influential (but often-overlooked) figure of the avant-garde, Maderna was a 20^th century composer known for his expressive musical freedom and commitment to the modernist cause. He moved in the same circles as composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, and Luciano Berio.

This weekend, Inverted Space is presenting the U.S. premiere of Maderna’s experimental opera “Don Perlimplín,” based on a play about love and loss by the 20^th century Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. But that’s not all! The celebration continues with “Maderna-Fest,” a four-day festival of Maderna’s music and musical influences. Performances are as follows:

Inverted Space will perform small-scale chamber works by Maderna and Berio this Wednesday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Jack Straw Cultural Center in the U District.

The group will perform the premiere of “Don Perlimplín” this Friday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m. at UW’s Meany Studio Theater.

The musicians will also perform three café concerts featuring vocal and instrumental works by Maderna, Pergolesi, Purcell, and Berio. The first is this Saturday, May 30 at 6 p.m. at Café Solstice in the U District, the second is this Saturday, May 30 at 8:30 p.m. at Stone Way Café in Fremont, and the final performance is this Sunday, May 31 at 8 p.m. at Café Racer in the U District.

Ursula Sahagian Performs Viet Cuong

Ursula-Sahagian-600x400 How many live oboe trios have you seen? None? Well this weekend, you have the opportunity to change that.

This weekend, oboist Ursula Sahagian and friends are presenting an evening of riveting music for double reeds written by composer Viet Cuong. The group will perform his award-winning Suite for Oboe Trio, as well as his “Trains of Thought” for oboe, bassoon, and piano. Sahagian will also perform two of Cuong’s works for solo oboe: “Six Canadian Scenes” and the world premiere of “Soda Apple.” Both pieces push the oboe to the edge of its technical limits and beyond.

The performance is this Saturday, May 30 at 8 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.

LIVE CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: April 9-14

Posted on April 8, 2015 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Molloy

This week’s crazy concert calendar has burgers, brews, British acousmatics, and Bach!

UW School of Music and DXARTS Presents Jonty Harrison

Jonty Harrison

In today’s innovative arts scene, you can make music from just about anything. Computers, sound clips, found objects—anything is fair game. But in recent decades British composer Jonty Harrison has been pushing the envelope even further, popularizing the notion that perhaps even the concert hall itself can be an instrument of musical expression.

Harrison is highly regarded as one of the central figures behind the British acousmatic school of composition: a type of electroacoustic music which is specifically composed for presentation using speakers as opposed to live performance. In 1982, he founded BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre), a sound diffusion system designed to present electronic music over an orchestra of loudspeakers. And this week, he is turning Seattle’s own Meany Theater into a stunning soundscape by presenting a variety of works from throughout his compositional career.

The performance is this Thursday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Washington’s Meany Theater.

Seattle Modern Orchestra Presents 21st Century Violin

Graeme Jennings

The violin has been one of the central solo instruments of Western music since the Baroque era—and even now, five centuries later, composers are still finding new ways of exploring this vibrant instrument’s vast sonic possibilities. This weekend, Seattle Modern Orchestra will celebrate a colorful palette of 21st century violin music in a special concert featuring Australian violinist Graeme Jennings.

Jennings will perform the world premiere of a piece written for him by Seattle Modern Orchestra co-Artistic Director, Jérémy Jolley. The piece, titled “Controclessidra,” is scored for violin and electric guitar. Next on the program, Jennings will tackle Luciano Berio’s virtuosic “Sequenza VIII” for solo violin, the U.S. premiere of Salvatore Sciarrino’s translucent “Le Stagioni Artificiali,” and finally, Franco Donatoni’s melodic and modal “Spiri.”

The performance is this Saturday, April 11 at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. A pre-concert presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. and the performance will begin at 8 p.m.

Bach, Brews, and Burgers at Naked City Brewery

Early Music Underground

What does Bach have to do with burgers? More than you might think. This weekend, Early Music Underground and Naked City Brewery are teaming up to present “Bach, Brews, and Burgers,” an evening of Baroque music in a not-so-Baroque setting: a local brewery and bar.

The concert setting may be new, but the music is classic—after all, if it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it, right? Feast your ears on the musical works of J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Johann Fasch, and Frantisek Tuma, performed by flautist Joshua Romatowski, violinist Steve Creswell, bassoonist Ron Evans, and harpsichordist Henry Lebedinsky.

Fun fact: C.P.E. Bach was known as “the Hamburg Bach” since he spent 20 years working as music director at the court in Hamburg, Germany (from which the American “hamburger” is derived). His famous “Hamburger Sonata” is on the program (or should we say menu?) for the evening’s performance.

The concert is next Tuesday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at Naked City Brewery in Greenwood.

For more concert listings, check out Second Inversion’s event calendar.

LIVE CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: October 17-18

Posted on October 16, 2014 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Molloy

Looking to expand your musical horizons? Here are some exciting and experimental Seattle music events taking place this weekend.

Inverted Space Featuring UW Student Compositions

Young 20-somethings are often at the forefront of new music ventures, constantly pushing the boundaries of familiar music genres and creating new ways of experimenting with sound. Seattle’s vibrant young musician scene is no exception. This Friday, music students from the University of Washington are presenting a colorful concert full of contemporary musical compositions written by their peers.

Inverted Space, UW’s contemporary music ensemble, will be performing small ensemble works written by fellow UW music students. The compositions include a solo work for violin and electronics, a duo for saxophone and cello, and many other unique musical compositions with imaginative instrumentation.

The concert is part of Nonsequitur’s Wayward Music Series, and will take place in the gorgeous Chapel Performance Space at the historic Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. The concert is this Friday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Seattle Symphony’s [untitled] Season Opener

(photo credit: Brandon Patoc)

This Friday, the Seattle Symphony is taking their music outside of Benaroya Hall and into…the lobby.

That’s right; Seattle Symphony is opening their 2014-2015 [untitled] series with a late-night concert presented in Benaroya Hall’s beautiful Samuel and Althea Stroum Grand Lobby. The performance will feature compositions by the influential 20th century Hungarian composer György Ligeti as well as contemporary composers Djuro Zivkovic and Andrew Norman.

Symphony musicians will perform Gyorgy Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 1, “Métamorphoses nocturnes.” One of his more daring early works, the quartet is written in one continuous movement which can be divided into 17 contrasting sections. The concert program also features Serbian-Swedish composer and violinist Djuro Zivkovic’s “On the Guarding of the Heart” as well as American composer Andrew Norman’s “Try.”

If you’d like to hear some insightful interviews with Andrew Norman, Djuro Zivkovic, and Mikhail Schmidt, one of the violinists, check out this great feature from Seattle Symphony!

The performance will take place in Benaroya Hall’s grand lobby this Friday, Oct. 17 at 10 p.m. Be sure to stop by the KING FM table and say hi to Second Inversion’s Maggie Stapleton!

William O. Smith’s Jazz Clarinet

This Saturday night, William O. Smith is jazzing up classical clarinet music with a performance of his own imaginative compositions and creative improvisations. The classically-trained jazz clarinetist has devoted much of his career to studying and cataloguing an impressive range of extended clarinet techniques, all of which have informed his own original compositions.

Smith will be joined by trombonist Stuart Dempster and clarinetist Jesse Canterbury. The captivating program includes a piece written for clarinet and improvising computer, a piece written for clarinet and computer-transformed sounds, as well as artful improvisations in duo and trio combinations.

The event, which is co-presented by the Earshot Jazz Festival and Nonsequitur, will take place at the Good Shepherd Center’s Chapel Performance Space in Wallingford this Saturday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m.